He was first introduced as a cocky delinquent high school student who is the heir of the Kusanagi clan, one of the three clans that sealed the legendary snake entity, Orochi, 1,800 years ago. His clan wields pyrokinetic powers, an inherited power that few members obtain. They, along with the Yasakani and Yata clans, keep one of the three sacred treasures used to contain Orochi long ago. His family's treasure is the Kusanagi Sword (草薙の剣, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi), and his family crest is the sun, represented in a stylized halo of fire. His official nickname is Scion of the Flame (炎 の 貴公子, Honoo no Kikoushi) [2][1] or The Cleansing Exorcising Flame (火炎 祓 濯, Kaen Harau Yusu). [2][3]

Contents

Development

Concept artwork from The King of Fighters '94

When designing characters for the first The King of Fighters, developers wanted a new hip hero who would easily rival the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters in style.[6] Through most of his development, Kyo was meant to be called Syo Kirishima, and was dressed in martial arts clothing common with fighting games at the time. But late in production, his name became Kyo Kusanagi, likely due to the KOF story's change in direction towards the Yamata no Orochi legend. When designing Syo, Shinichi Morioka (Kyo and Iori's creator) used Shotaro Kaneda from the Akira manga as inspiration. When Syo appears as a striker in KOF 2000, he would be voiced by Mitsuo Iwata who also voiced Kaneda. [7] The idea for his flames -as well as the other elemental powers for the rest of the Japan team- was derived from the anime Getter Robo; in the show, there were three featured heroes who served as the inspiration for the KOF trio: the protagonist had a "fiery" persona, his friend was "edgy and daring", and the third hero was the "down-to-earth giant". It is also a homage to a Japanese phrase of giving birth to fire (roughly translated as "lighting strikes the earth which sparks the flame"). [8] Other influences include Jo Yabuki and Akira Fudo from the respectively series Ashita no Joe and Devilman. [6]

His change in fighting style was also made as a part of the series's overhaul in The King of Fighters '96. To appease all fans, they also included an older version of Kyo from The King of Fighters '94 into The King of Fighters '97 and placed the '95 version of Kyo in '98, which made both versions of Kyo popular during location tests. The idea of having two versions of Kyo at once lead to the concept of his clones; during the early development stages of The King of Fighters '99, SNK planned to avoid adding any version of Kyo altogether, or Iori, to the game, as the story's focus was meant to center on the new protagonist, K'. However, they retracted this decision, as "they couldn't leave these popular characters in limbo". [9] Since then, veteran developers for the series admit that Kyo's repeated appearances in the series is due to the marketers and the main planners' insistence to add him, Iori, and other SNK regulars in every game, making it a challenge to decide the story for each title. Kyo's voice actor, Masahiro Nonaka, related greatly with his character as being young and reckless until he "grew up" in his later appearances. He then expressed some difficulty accepting Kyo on the same level.

Kyo's appearance in The King of Fighters XIII

According to Nobuyuki Kuroki, the staff wanted to provide a new design that would captivate new fans. [10] Despite Kyo being the main character, they decided to drastically change his hair and outfit. Fearing fans would not like Kyo's new appearance, the staff commented that they aimed it as a challenge, they also mention that old players from the series would understand he is still the same character despite cosmetic changes. [11] This new design, alongside Iori's, provoked major controversy during the time it was revealed. However in an interview, The King of Fighters XIV director Yasuyuki Oda said the team wanted the characters to carry a new look due to the game being set in a new story arc. [12] Oda also notes that Kyo became more macho as the games progressed, so they decided to alter his physique so he won't look as aggressive as he did in KOF XIII. [13]

Kyo, along with his rival, Iori, has been noted by several of the series's designers as being one of the most difficult characters to illustrate because of his popularity amongst fans.[14][15] In Gamest Mook Vol.197, Nona comments that he found it difficult to draw Kyo in a heroic image, since he draws Kyo in the image of Devilman's Akira Fudo. [16] In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Kyo was voted as the staff's second favorite character. In the Neo Geo Freak's 1997 Volume 8 character poll, he was voted as the favourite character overall, with a total of 2,160 votes. [17] 620 votes from the male fans and 1,540 votes from the female fans.[18] And in Neo Geo Freak's August 1998 issue, he was ranked as the 3rd best character. [19] In a 2005 poll made by SNK-Playmore USA, he was voted as the sixth fan favorite character with a total of 176 votes. In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, he was voted as the third favorite character with a total of 2,574 votes. In an interview with one of the manhua artist and authors, Wing Yan, he replies that Kyo is his favorite original character in the series. [20]Garou: Mark of the Wolves planner and The King of Fighters XIV producer Yasuyuki Oda states that Kyo and Leona are his favourite characters in The King of Fighters series.[21]

Story

Clan Background

660 years ago, the Kusanagi and Yasakani clans were once allies. However, due to a horrible misunderstanding, the Yasakani struck a blood pact with Orochi for more power. They renamed their family name to Yagami, and their flames, previously red like their former allies, changed to violet from Orochi's taint. Since then, the clans have waged a generation long grudge with casualties made from both sides. It continues in The King of Fighters series with Kyo and Iori Yagami.

Orochi Saga

The Orochi saga takes place between The King of Fighters '94 and '97. Kyo surpassed his father at the age of fifteen and was designated as the clan's leader. Shortly after the completion of his training, Kyo competes in a preliminary held in Japan to determine the members of the country's representative team in the King of Fighters tournament. He bests Goro Daimon and Benimaru Nikaido to become the leader of the team, the two becoming his teammates and eventual friends. [22] They reach the finals, where they met the host of the tournament, a powerful fighter named Rugal Bernstein. Rugal boasts his desire to fight powerful opponents and challenges them. After his defeat, he self-destructs his ship in attempt to bring them with him, but the team escapes unharmed. Afterwards, Kyo decides to travel abroad in order to train.

In the following year, Daimon and Benimaru were waiting for Kyo's ship to dock, when they were attacked by a masked assailant. Kyo returns and throws a fireball at the mysterious person, only to destroy her mask and reveal her to be Rugal's secretary. She hands over an invitation letter to another King of Fighters tournament, organized once again by Rugal, who survived his craft's self-destruction. [23] This time, Rugal also brainwashed Kyo's missing father, Saisyu, into attacking his son. Kyo's father regains his senses after he was subdued by the team. To counter the team's strength, Rugal challenges them with power sapped from Orochi. However, Rugal's body was overwhelmed by the power's immensity and he was vaporized after his defeat. Pleased with his son's prowess, Saisyu leaves unnoticed, insinuating that he entrusts the clan's duty to Kyo.

Prior to the events of The King of Fighters '96, a mysterious man -later revealed to be one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Orochi, Goenitz- challenges Kyo to a fight. Kyo arrives, powered by his overwhelming confidence in his fists, only to be defeated soundly by his challenger and sent to the hospital. In spite of his injuries, his anger and spirit from his loss drove him to invent powerful new techniques (this is the canon explanation for Kyo trading his projectile attack-based technique set for his now trademark flame-laced melee attack strings). He enters the year's tournament to prove his strength to his unknown attacker. [24] In the tournament's finals, he meets the host of the tournament and the younger heiress of the Yata clan, Chizuru Kagura. At the tournament's end, he vanquishes Goenitz with Iori and Chizuru's help. Though he is warned by Chizuru of his clan's destiny with Orochi, Kyo ignores her and promptly departs.

Before The King of Fighters '97 takes place, he is pestered by fellow high school student, Shingo Yabuki, to teach him how to create his flames. Though annoyed and flustered by his persistence, Kyo partially agrees to mentor him as a means of gaining free meals. [25] He also experiences nightmares of a strange man defeating him at the King of Fighters tournament, but continues to participate. [26] Before the tournament, his girlfriend, Yuki was kidnapped by the Hakkesshu, in order to be used as the last of the sacrificial maidens for Orochi's revival. Though it's ambiguous as to which team he enters during the tournament, it is canonly accepted that Kyo joins with Iori and Chizuru for its conclusion.

Kyo delivering the finishing blow.

He advances into the finals, where he confronts the remaining "Four Heavenly Kings" of Orochi, Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, and Chris. The Hakkesshu also mention the plan to sacrifice Yuki in order to revive Orochi. Fueled by these turn of events, Kyo fights an emotional and heroic battle. When they are beaten, Orochi possesses Chris' body and attempts to destroy the three clans at once. As was done in the legends of their clans, the trio successfully defeat him. In a last-ditch effort, Orochi (manifested in Chris' body) causes Iori to enter the berserk Riot of the Blood state, expecting him to turn on Kyo and Chizuru. Instead, Iori snares Orochi by the neck, and Kyo obliged his rival by crippling the great demon with one last deathblow, allowing Chizuru to reseal Orochi. Exhausted, Kyo passes out. The last thing he sees is Yuki, saying that she will wait for him.

NESTS Saga

Kyo reunites with his old teammates and Shingo.

The King of Fighters '99 took place immediately after the events of The King of Fighters '97. Still knocked out from his previous battle with the godlike Orochi, Kyo was taken by the NESTS syndicate and his DNA was used to make various beings for their purposes. He awoke one day to find himself surrounded by bizarre gadgets and needles. Deciding to search for answers, Kyo broke out of captivity and managed to escape the hidden fortress despite the sedatives. While escaping, he constantly heard references to the NESTS cartel. He tries to personally gain answers from his captors, but is forced to retreat when the base around him begins to collapse. [27] He decides not to come back home before NESTS is taken down and attempts to investigate privately again the following year but learns very little. As the fiasco of South Town's destruction ensued, Iori confronts him and they fight to an unknown outcome.

In The King of Fighters 2001, Kyo reunites with his old teammates and Shingo to make a comeback in the Japan Team. They join the now NESTS-sponsored KoF tournament to relive their time together as a team and to fight NESTS. [28][29] They disband as soon as the tournament is over, leaving Shingo to muse about life. In the official novel, Japan Team makes it to the semi-finals, however he and Iori separate from their teammates and fight elsewhere. Like the fight in 2000, the outcome is unknown. [30]

Tales of Ash

Ash taking Chizuru's Yata Mirror.

In The King of Fighters 2003, Chizuru appeared to both Kyo and Iori, requesting that they form a team and investigate suspicious activities concerning the Orochi. Kyo initially protested allying with Iori (though Iori apparently did not do likewise), but relented to form the Sacred Treasures team. [31] After the defeat of Mukai, the team then investigated the weakening Orochi seal that they had been transported to after Mukai's defeat, but were ambushed by Ash Crimson, who stole the Yata Mirror from Chizuru, promising to go after Iori next. Ash escaped, and Kyo swore vengeance.

In The King of Fighters XI, Shingo has volunteered to join Kyo and Iori, in Chizuru's name. After several attempts, Kyo abides to Shingo's requests and joins forces with his groupie and his rival, in order to stop Ash. However, after he and his team defeat Magaki, the growing presence of the Orochi, caused Iori to snap and enter the Riot of the Blood state, and he landed a surprise attack and trashed Kyo and Shingo in a berserk fit. [32] Ash appeared thereafter and stole the Yasakani no Magatama within Iori's body, along with his flames. The Rival Team (Benimaru, Duo Lon, and Elisabeth Blanctorche) arrived after the incident, to whom Ash tells them that Kyo will be next.

Kyo accepts his rivals challenge and fights once more.

The incident had Kyo hospitalized, but he escapes rather than wait for his recovery. [33] As he wanders the city, he encounters a mysterious boy and his female partner, who try to attack him. Showing them his flames, they hand him the "R" invitation before taking their leave. Soon after the encounter, Benimaru and Daimon find him. Seeing no need to visit the hospitalized Shingo or Chizuru, he reunites with his old team members to relive his past glory days together with them. [34] After Ash disappears and Kyo's team won another tournament, Iori appears and challenges Kyo to a fight. Kyo accepts and the rivals fight to an undecided outcome.

XIV Arc

The Sacred Treasures after sealing Orochi.

When the tournament was announced, Saisyu summons Kyo and his friends, then informs them about a new threat which will cause untold chaos. He and Tung Fu Rue also requests the team to help his newstudents. Benimaru mentions the 'first generation' KOF champion that appeared while they were away and asks Kyo what he'll do about it. At his fathers request, Kyo enters the tournament once again with his old teammates to deal with the self proclaimed champion and newcomers all at once. [35]

After the tournament's conclusion, Kyo advices Shun'ei to keep training to control his power. At the airport, after sending his teammates off, he heads to Hungary. Chizuru had called him there for his assistance in dealing with a revived, yet weakened Orochi, whom Iori found earlier.

Personality

Kyo is the over-confident but well meaning protagonist of the series, more interested in enjoying life than having to partake in any particular responsibilities. He is quick to dismiss subjects that don't interest him and will often carry out his actions with a devil-may-care attitude. Despite his seemingly arrogant and rude demeanor, he treasures his friends and family, enjoying their presence and particularly doting on his girlfriend, Yuki. His extreme disinterest in studies has led to his chronic inability to graduate from high school (which has become subject to in-jokes). Although he is confident in his poetic talent, most of his poems aren't considered to be good by his listeners.

Kyo takes his clan's responsibilities on a more personal level, disregarding ancient legends and predestined events as any reason for his actions. His strong sense of justice and his zeal to fight stronger opponents are what he believes to drive him to carry out his destiny. His rivalry with Iori is one of mutual hatred and was hardly spurred by their clans' history. When Kyo and Iori join forces, it is often begrudgingly and as a last resort solution to the conflict at hand.

Powers

Pyrokinesis - Due to his Kusanagi heritage, Kyo can control fire. He can create fire from thin air, create fire balls, deliver punches of fire, create pillars of fire and put his own body on fire. However, he is neither immune to other types of fire nor able to control other fires that he didn't create. Also, the flames he wields are nothing more than just ordinary fire: it does not have the mystical 'trapping' ability of Iori's purple holy flames.

Skills

Motorcycle Driving - Kyo likes to drive his motorcycle around the streets of Japan. Some official pictures depict Kyo driving a scooter.

Poetry - Kyo likes to write poetry as a hobby, though his poetry is generally not much liked by his listeners.

Fighting Style

Kyo fights using the Kusanagi style of ancient martial arts, a Japanese style of empty handed combat taught only to the Kusanagi clan members. Like most of the clan members in modern times, these are labeled as Method/Style with numbers; numbers that actually use alternate kanji different from their originals. These examples are 108 Shiki: Yami Barai (Method 108: Darkness Sweeper), etc. with "Reverse Methods" being stronger versions of other attacks such as Kyo's signature DM, Ura 108 Shiki: Orochinagi (Reverse Method 108: Great Serpent Mower) being an example. In some sources, this even applies to his "unnamed" normal attacks.

Kyo also knows Kenpo, and uses it in most of his normal attacks. Kyo's moveset emphasizes Kenpo from KOF '96 onwards, discarding his 108 Shiki: Yami Barai and 101 Shiki: Oboroguruma (Method 101: Hazy Wheel), making way for a series of completely new techniques which are a series of chain punches (the 114 Shiki: Aragami/Method 114: Wild Bite and 115 Shiki: Dokugami/Method 115: Poison Bite) with several different followups, and thus adds a varying amount of kicks and elbow dropping attacks which are also types of notable moves in Kenpo. The names of Kyo's new moves are anything but vague and simple names (such as 402 Shiki: Batsu Yomi/Method 402: Punish Recital and 125 Shiki: Nanase/Method 125: Seven Rapids), possibly due to Kyo's taste for poetry.

Thus, Kyo is a strong combo character that takes a while to master as his moveset from KOF '96 and following games explodes to ridiculous levels. Mastering it though allowed players to more easily adapt to use other characters that had more diverse movesets. Kyo made way for archetypes with moves that not only had multiple inputs, but each followup had its own unique features. This would also pave way for powerful mixups and combos if pressure was well-setup. Story-wise, this was possibly due to his initial defeat by Goenitz, Kyo reformed his style into a more-offensive focus.

In the original games (especially in KOF '95), Kyo followed the "Ryu and Ken" archetype with Iori, as Kyo's moves differ slightly from game to game in the same manner as Iori, mainly their Desperation Moves. Changes in KOF '96 and onwards made them vastly different from each other. Alternate versions of Kyo would retain his old movesets from older games for nostalgia's sake, though each alternate version would be notably different from game to game. The 100 Shiki: Oniyaki (Method 100: Ogre Baker) is the one technique both Kyo and Iori still share to this day.

In KOF 2003, Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru's LDM's are all named the San Shingi (Three Divine Arts), taking after their clans, destinies, and treasures. Kyo's San Shingi no Ichi (Three Divine Arts No. 1) however, is his SDM version Saishuu Kessen Ougi: Mu Shiki (Final Play-Off Secret Skill: No Method), as opposed to Iori and Chizuru's versions being original attacks.

In The King of Fighters XII and XIII, his default self switches back to his old KOF '94/'95 moveset. His Neo Max in XIII, the Ama-No-Murakumo (Gathering Clouds of Heaven) is a reference to the original name of his heirloom. His NESTS-Style version uses his traditional "Kenpo chain punch" moveset, and is given a Neo Max named Saishuu Kessen Hiougi: Totsuka (Final Play-Off Hidden Secret Skill: Ten Fists), a nod to the famous Totsuka-no-Tsurugi (Sword of Ten Fists). Another possible nod is his 182 Shiki/Method 182, a powerful flaming punch attack, which may be the finishing blow dealt by Kyo to Orochi in the Orochi Saga's end (though in some other games, the 182 has a different animation, while its SDM version in XIV is a combination of its two different animations).

Also, two other new moves in XIV that compliment his poetic taste are an overhead finishing move to his new low-attacking Munotsuchi (Six Mallets) followup from Aragami, and his Climax DM; they are respectively known as Tsurube Otoshi (Well Bucket Fall; a term for sinking quickly) and Yaegaki (Double Fences; a term for fences over fences).

A notable trait that makes Kyo stand out in the Maximum Impact games is that while the input windows are fairly tight, some of his Stylish Arts are styled akin to a majority of crouching light kick-to-light punch normal attacks in the original 2D games.

Music

ESAKA - The King of Fighters '94 and a remixed version in KOF '98 and '98 UM

Early artwork shows Kyo and Saisyu having the Kusanagi symbol on their foreheads. This idea was referenced in one of the KOF Manhua's.

When Daimon uses Jirai Shin in KOF '95-'98, Kyo and Benimaru are the only background characters who'll jump.

Kyo, Benimaru and Daimon are the winners of all The King of Fighters tournaments hosted in Orochi Saga. And the most recent ones in XIII and XIV. Their victories are confirmed in Team Stories, Light Novels and cutscenes.

In Neo-Geo Freak 1998, the characters in KOF '98 have their own interviews. Here are Kyo's response to the questions.[36]

What is your aspiration in this competition? - "It's only about dealing with the person standing on opposite side."

Who would you like to fight the most? - "No one really. But there are quite a lot of guys who want to try me out?"

Who would you like to team up with? / Who would you not like to team up with? - "Theyare the people I'm most comfortable with. Who do I not want to team up with? I don't want to answer that."

What is "KOF" for you? - "A big time killer."

Finally, please give a word to your fans. - "It's definitely me who resolves things in a blink of an eye. I don't have time to sleep!"

Yuichiro Hiraki was the pixel artist for Kyo in KOF '94 and Iori in KOF '95. Although he left SNK in 1997 to work on The Fallen Angels, he was asked by Kaname Fujioka to do Kyo and Iori's pixel art once more for Capcom vs. SNK. [37]